WHO says it regrets Trump's decision to halt funding, but remains focused on coronavirus response
The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that it "is getting on with the job" in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, despite President Donald Trump's announcement a day earlier that the US would withhold funding to the international organization, CNN reported.
"We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference Wednesday in Geneva.
Trump announced Tuesday he is halting funding to the WHO while a review is conducted. CNN reported Wednesday that the administration is looking for new ways to allocate that money, which would leave the WHO without tens of millions of dollars from its largest donor.
Tedros said Wednesday that the WHO is assessing exactly how its programs will be affected by the loss of funding from the US.
"We will do the assessment and then announce it officially," Tedros said during the briefing, adding that the international agency "will work with our partners to fill any financial gaps we face and to ensure our work continues uninterrupted."
He said that the WHO will continue working with other countries and argued that unity is key to fighting the coronavirus.
In his announcement Tuesday, Trump criticized the WHO for its response to the coronavirus and alluded to alleged increase in Chinese influence at the organization, arguing that the virus could have been better contained had the WHO "done its job to get medical experts into China" and assess the situation.
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